Method and apparatus for heat interchange



Dec; '1, 1936.

l|. H. L 'l-:VIN'v4 l l 22,062,321

METHODAND APPARATUS FOR HEAT INTER-CHANGEV original Filed July 14.#.1953 2 shuts-Shut 1' De, 1,1936. l. H. I EvlN 2,062,321'` METHOD AND APPARATUS Foa HEAT INTERGHANGE original Filed July 14, 1935 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented Dec. 1, 1936 METHOD AND APPARATUS Fon. nnA'r m'rERcHANGE Isaac n. Levin, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Application July 14, 1933ser1aiNo. 680,328

Renewed September 2, 1936 5 claims. (ci. 257-246) The invention relates to heat interchangers as used for the separation of air and kother gaseous mixtures into their constituents by the usual method of liquefaction and rectification'. While 5 my improved method may be advantageously employed for heat transfer units in the separation of gases generally from their mixtures, the description will refer to the separation of air into its constituents.

Y Some of the advantages of my invention and Figure 2.

Figure4 is a section through a modification of Figure 3.

In the tubular interchangers commonly used in such arts as separating air into its constituents, problems arise due to the fact that the air has to transfer heat to both oxygen and nitrogen, and often to argon also. Further difliculties arise from the fact that the air is under considerable pressure above that of the products into which the air is separated. Still further difiiculties may arise when one of the constituents, such as oxygen or argon, is to be removed under-pressure.

In the general type of interchangers now used, the products of separation may pass through a number of tubes in parallel, some for oxygen, others .for nitrogen and still others for argon. 'Ihese tubes are afiixed to a common tube sheet and each gas issuing from a given s etof tubes is collected in a cap attached to the tube sheet. The

l4.o combined tube bumuea with tube sheet and caps are placed within a shell and properly enclosed, and the air to be separated enters the shell, then passes around the tubes, often between baiiies.-

The ends of the shell are iitted with enclosures to retain the air. This shell in turnis surrounded by insulating material. I have found that I can overcome many of the diiiiculties due to possible gas leaks, and other difculties due to constructing an interchanger for so many gases, and I can, furthermore, very considerably reduce the cost of manufacturing a heat transfer unit, and also considerably improve the heat transfer eiciency, and the capacity, by constructing the interchanger and operating the same in a manner described in-my invention.

at I.

Figure 1 is a section through a heat transfer unit embodying my invention. This unit consists of a shell I5 and tube bundle I6. Air enters interchanger at I and leavesat 2. It passes within the shell I5 and around the tubes I6 in which nitrogen 5 ows. As the air rises, passing between baiiles I8, it becomes progressively cooler as`does also the surface of jacket I5. A pipe 23 is coiled about the jacket I5 and a cold gas, say oxygen or a refrigerant, is made to circulate through this pipe 10 entering at 3 and leaving at 4. Heat transfer is thus brought` about between the fluid in pipe 23 and the air within shell I5. Nitrogen enters the tubes I6 by rst entering pipe 5, and 'then cap I9, andnally leaves at 6. l

If oxygen is to be removed under pressure, as described in my co-pending application Serial No. 670,146, 1933, the oxygen under pressure can enter the coil 23, and as the oxygen passes through this coilcirculating about `the shell, the 20 temperature of the oxygen rises as the coil 23 comes in contact with warmer' portions of the shell, until the oxygen finally leaves at 4 at substantially the temperature of the'incoming air This type ofheat transfer unit represents considerable saving over theY general type of interchangers used wherein the oxygen Vwould have to pass through tubes parallellingathe nitrogen tubes I6. The oxygen is at a much higher pressure than the pressure of the'air. requires the tube sheet to be ofexpensive` construction; likewise the cap which would enclose the ends of the oxygen tubes and beused as a collector for the high pressure oxygen, would be bulky and of expensive construction. The space required for 35 this cap and the large bolts necessary to clamp the cap to thetube sheet increase the diameter of .the interchanger appreciably, and also introduces a large amount of waste space. The increased surface causes an increase in heat loss. The in- 40 struction and manner of operation, as shown and described under Figure 1, the coil 23 may be encased in a shell I4, and part of the nitrogen flowing into tubes I6 may be diverted into the 56 ure 2, coil 23 may receive additional heat trans fer contact by means of the nitrogen flowing around the coil. The nitrogen in this case heat transfers with the air through the wall of the shell I5 and also with the walls of coil 23. It is often dimcult to make good contact between coil 23 and the shell. The use of the nitrogen-avoids the necessity of a mechanical contact between coil 23 and shell I5, and substitutes therefor a fluid contact which circulates around the coil and against the shell I5. The nitrogen enters.' say, at the top of the interchanger through pipe 5. A portion of the nitrogen is by-passed at joint 8 and enters the space between shell I4 and I5 at 9. It circulates into the space formed between shells I4 and I5 and around the coil 23, leaving at I0, passing through valve II, joins the nitrogen coming through the tubes through pipe 6 at joint I2, and then leaves at I3. The amount of nitrogen to be circulated or by-passed can be controlled by valve II. In the event that liquid oxygen is to be produced, there remains but the heat transfer between the air and the nitrogen. This type of interchanger can also be used for the nitrogen and air heat transfer, by sending some of the nitrogen through the tubes I6 and the remainder inthe space between shells I4 and I5, and also through coil 23 in addition. Coil 23 can also serve for argon, or, in the event that the argon is allowed to pass out with the nitrogen and the oxygen, a refrigerant such as ammonia or carbon dioxide can be sent through coil 23. The air entering these interchangers at I usually contains moisture. eration is necessary to condense said moisture. This additional refrigeration can be supplied by the refrigerant already referred to instead of producing such refrigeration by means of air. Valves 21 serve to drain ofi moisture' which collects within the interchanger.

Figure 3 is a section through a modication of Figure 2. Where oxygen is to be removed and in addition argon, the oxygen gas may pass through coil 23 and the argon may be allowed to pass into the space formed between shells I4 and I5, the argon entering at 20 and leaving at 2I. Argon gas could also be sent through 23, entering at 3 and leaving at 4, and the oxygen can be sent into 20 and leave at 2|. In case only oxygen and nitrogen are removed, the oxygen may be sent through coil 23 and a refrigerant may be caused to circulate between shells I4 and I5`by entering at 20 and leaving at 2l, or the refrigerant may be sent through coil 23 and the oxygen sent into the space formed between the shells I4 and I5, entering at 2li and leaving at 2l.

Figure 4 is a section through a modification of Figure 3. Instead of passing the oxygen through a coil as shown at 23, a tube or wire 22 may be wound about the shell I5. This wire may then be .encased by surrounding same with shell I4. The oxygen gas may then enter at 2l and circulate about shell I5 into the space formed by means of 22 and shell I4, and then leave the interchanger at 2l. 'I'his form of interchanger is very convenient and very eicient, permitting very small differences of temperature in the order of 1 to 2 C. between the oxygenand the air.

In Figures 1, 2 and 3, a gas under pressure, say, liquid oxygen gasifying up to the pressure of portable cylinders, that is, 2200 pounds per A certain amount of refrigsquare inch, may be brought into very eflicient heat transfer contact with the incoming air by permitting the high pressure oxygen topass within coil 23. These interchangers in Figures 1 to 4 inclusive, are shown with the air entering the bottom thereof and leaving at the top, with the nitrogen entering at the top and leaving at the bottom. These interchangers may also be operated4 by inverting the same, so that the air would enter at 2 and descend through the interchanger, leaving at I, and the nitrogen would enter at 6 and rise through the tubes, leaving at 5. lLilrewise, the air passing through 23 would be reversed and the gas entering at 2 0 would be reversed, in order that the air will be in counter current with the constituents separated from the air. In case a refrigerant is used, the refrigerant may be applied either in counter current or in parallel with the incoming air.

In some methods of separating air into its constituents, air at different pressures may be used. Air under one pressure may be sent into shell I5 through pipe I, and the air under another pressure may be sent through 23, entering at 4 and leaving at 3, as in Figures 1, 2, and 3, or such air may enter the space between shells I4 and I5 by entering at 2| and leaving at 20, as in Figure 4, or in 23 and/or in the space between shells I4 and I5 as per Figure 3. In Figure 3, whichever space is not used for air can be 1 used for a product of separation, say, the oxygen or argon. If argon or oxygen is to be removed as a liquid and evaporated under pressure, the passages in pipe 23 may be preferred to the space between shells I4 and I5. Furthermore, whichever space is not used for air may be used for a refrigerant, such as ammoniav or the like. Furthermore, air under one pressure may be sent within the shell I5 and around the tubes I6, and air under a diierent pressure may be sent in the space between shells I4 and I5, or within coil 23, while a refrigerant, such as ammonia or carb on dioxide, passes through tubes I6 instead of nitrogen, or any of the other products of separation.

In some method of separating air into its constituents, both air and nitrogen are supplied to the column, the latter serving as reilux for the distillation column. Under these conditions, either eflluent nitrogen or a refrigerant, such as ammonia, may pass through tubes I6 and the air may be sent through the shell while the nitrogen may pass through coil 23 and/or the space between shells I4 and I5. Furthermore, air may be sent into shell I5' at one pressure, and through coil 23 at another pressure, while nitrogen may be sent through the space -between shells I4 and -I5, and thence to the distilling column, while either a refrigerant may be sent into tubes I6 or nitrogen as eilluent'from the column may be sent into tubes I5.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for the exchange of heat comprising iluid conducting tubes, a iiuid receiving chamber and a fluid discharge chamber connected by said uid conducting tubes, a shell surrounding said tubes and forming a gas space between the wall of said tubes and the wall of said shell, inlet and outlet means for passing a fluid into and out of thesaid space, means for giving said fluid a sinuous motion during its passage through said space to bring about improved heat transfer between the iiuid and the .wall of the shell, iluid conducting `means coiled about the exterior surface of said shell, a casing covering the said means and forming a gas space between the exterior wall of the shell 'and the casing, inlet and outlet means for passing a fluid into and out of said second mentioned space.

2. An apparatus for the exchange of heat comprising. fluid conducting tubes, a iluid receiving chamber, and a fluid discharge chamber connected by said uld conducting tubes, a shell surrounding said tubes and forming a gas space between the wall of said tubes and the wall of said shell, inlet and outlet means for passing a fluid into and out of said space, means for giving said fluid a sinuous motion during its passage through said space to bring about improved heat transfer between the iluid and the wall of the shell, a tube for the paage of a uid therethrough positioned about the exterior of said shell, -a casing covering the said tube and forming a Igas space between the exterior wall of the shell and the casing, means for supplying the same uid to the fluid receiving chamber and to said space between the shell and the casing.

3. An apparatus for the exchange of. heat between air and the products of separation of the air consisting of a larger portion containing nitrogen and a smaller portion containing oxygen, comprising iluid conducting tubes in parallel for the said larger portion, a fluid receiving chamber and a fluid discharge chamber connected by said fluid conducting tubes, a shell enclosing the said tubes, means for passing the air into and out of the said shell, means causing the air in its passage through the shell to owacross the tubes in successive zones and in alternating direction, gas conducting means positioned about the exterior surface of said shell for the said smaller portion, means causing the smaller portion to follow a tortuous path `while in heat transfer contact with the successive zones within the shell.

4. A method. of producing heat transfer between air and the products of separation of the air conslsting of a larger portion containing nitrogen and a smaller portion containing oxygen,

passing the air .in successive steps and in alternating direction'facross the several parallel paths of flow of the nitrogen portion, thereby producing zones of temperature in the air stream and lowering the heat content of the air, bringing the oxygen portiongalong a tortuous path in heat transfer contact with the zones of temperature of the air to further reduce the heat content of the air.

5. A method l'of producing heat transfer between a gaseousmlxture and the products of separation of the ,said gaseous mixture, comprising passing the gaseous mixture in successive steps and in alternating directions across several parallel paths of flow of a product of separation, thereby producing zones of. temperature in the stream of flowv `of gaseous mixture and lowering the heat content of the gaseous mixture, bringing another product of separation in a tortuous path inheat transfer contact with the zones of temperature of the gaseous mixture to further re' duce the heat content of the said gaseous mixture.

ISAAC H. LEVIN. 

